When the Artemis II mission launched humans out of near-earth orbit on April 1, 2026, I was hooked (‘97 Space Camp alumna here).
The Artemis II mission wasn’t about setting foot on the moon—it was about gathering large volumes of data at rates 100,000 times faster than Apollo-era missions, performing rapid data interpretation, and responding to the implications of that data in real time. Sounds familiar, right?
The mission delivered so many impactful moments, including the deep sigh of relief on launch, the splash back to Earth, Commander Wiseman naming a moon crater in honor of his late wife Carroll, and the photo of our beautiful planet available to earth-dwellers almost in real time.
A core memory for me, however, are the photos of the NASA team who stayed footed here on planet Earth. I instantly noticed something specific: a large number of women (you might even call them stellar women) compared to prior space missions.
There was one woman in mission control during Apollo 11’s launch in 1969. Now, about 30 percent of the NASA Artemis launch team are women. These women have a tremendous responsibility to society, their team, and their mission to execute, support, and lead.
Responsibility is a cornerstone. These are the women that 9-year-old Space Camp Amanda would’ve looked up to, and the women who will pave the way for generations to come.
Being witness to this reminded me of the remarks made by Sarah Cole, the Stellar Women award recipient at our 2025 Innovation Awards, during our Stellar Women High Tea at Legalweek: “Living stellar comes with responsibility: Responsibility to mentor. To sponsor. To recognize. To make space. To share power and add voices to the room.”
Responsibility is on full display for Sarah, too, which leads me to reflect on how I show up not only to execute on the critical missions, but also in how I give back to this remarkable community.
With the nomination window for the 2026 Innovation Awards, including our Stellar Women category, open now through May 8, I was inspired to tie the themes Sarah offered in her remarks to the collective and brilliant efforts of some stellar women in our community. Here’s a small look at all of the incredible work they, and so many women like them, are accomplishing every day.
Don’t forget to nominate someone who inspires you for this year’s Innovation Awards!
Responsibility to make space. Responsibility to share power.
Dawn Garrison (2025 Stellar Women award finalist) rebuilt the Pittsburgh chapter of Women in eDiscovery from the ground up, recruiting a new board and growing membership by more than 40 people to create a space for connection and dialogue.
At Lighthouse, she helped launch a “speed dating for leadership” initiative to bridge greater access between women and senior leaders, which created direct connections and ultimately evolved into a formal mentorship program.
In discussions with Dawn, she demonstrates a relentless motivation toward this mission. She shared with me, “we talk a lot about mentorship, but real impact comes from action, making introductions, opening doors, and advocating for someone’s next opportunity before they ask. That’s how we turn inclusion into progress.”
Dawn connects the space she creates to opportunity by giving individuals access, visibility, and ownership. She enables others to step up and into leadership.
Responsibility to recognize.
Jeanne Somma (2025 Stellar Women finalist) treats recognition as a structural decision, not a moment of praise. She believes “recognition should never be left to chance. When it’s embedded into the fabric of an organization, it creates real pathways for growth and ensures more voices are not only heard, but advanced.”
At Lineal, she did just that. Jeanne embedded this practice into hiring, development, and advancement through transparent practices, pay equity, and clear criteria tied to real contributions.
She helped reshape the organization into a majority female global company by ensuring contributions from women and underrepresented groups leading to real opportunity and progression. Recognition goes beyond visibility. Jeanne builds systems that consistently reward impact and drive performance in our community.
Responsibility to mentor. Responsibility to sponsor.
Sarah Cole’s (2025 Stellar Women award recipient) experience sharpens the distinction between mentorship and sponsorship in a way that is impossible to overlook. Mentorship is visible and often celebrated. Sponsorship is quieter and some may argue that it’s more impactful than mentorship. Sponsorship is saying someone’s name in a room they are not in, ensuring credit lands where it should, and advocating for someone’s next opportunity without being asked.
Earlier in her career, Sarah mentored at scale, building training programs and helping hundreds of colleagues earn certifications. Today, that impact shows up differently: it is embedded in daily interactions, making time to understand what someone is working toward so she can advocate for them with specificity and intention.
Sponsorship changes trajectories by ensuring people are seen, credited, and advanced when it matters most.
Responsibility to add voices to the room.
The Stellar Women award is a direct reflection of this responsibility in action. Its purpose is to help elevate and celebrate voices that advocate for and enable a more inclusive future in legal technology and create pathways for others to do the same. By design, it spotlights amazing women who are not only driving impact within their organizations but also influencing the broader direction of the industry.
That impact extends beyond the award itself through the Stellar Women community. Built to empower women to thrive in technology and advance their careers, it creates an environment where voices are amplified, experiences are shared, and progress is collective. The community becomes a platform where visibility turns into momentum, and recognition turns into opportunity.
Adding voices to the room is an ongoing effort, not a one-time action. When recognition, community, and opportunity are intentionally connected, they create a sustained pipeline of leadership that continues to expand who is seen, heard, and elevated.
A Final Reflection
As I reflect on the Artemis mission, it’s evident that the mission is never just about launch. It is about the contributors, the strength of the community behind the mission, and the systems built on the ground that make it possible.
Named after the Greek goddess who represents independence and strength, Artemis signals a new era of exploration—one built to include more women in shaping what comes next. The same is true for this precipice we are on as an industry and community.
It felt right to anchor my excitement for this year’s Innovation Awards and the Stellar Women category in the remarks of one of our 2025 winners, and even more so to see how clearly our finalists’ stories reflect those same principles. As a leader at Relativity, I carry a responsibility to show up in that way, ensuring more women are not only included in the work, but positioned to lead it.
The responsibility to mentor, sponsor, recognize, make space, share power, and add voices to the room is what builds the mission behind the mission.
As we look ahead to this year’s Innovation Awards, the most impactful opportunity they bring is to make us ask ourselves who we are bringing with us next. Who’s joining you?
Graphics for this article were created by Kael Rose.
